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The Lighthouse Cookbook - Recipes from Heceta Head Lighthouse Bed & Breakfast


I spent the weekend at a book signing on the Oregon Coast at The Heceta Head Lighthouse B&B. I discovered this unique and charming location on assignment for RCI Endless Vacation Magazine a few years back. It was one of our stops on a whale watching story that took us from Canon Beach to Florence. The B&B is not only known for its charm, but the incredible seven course breakfast prepared with recipes from Michelle and Carol Korgan. I not only fell in love with the magic of Heceta's beauty, but the food as well. Michelle and I discussed the possibility of working on a cookbook together and after several trips North and even more hours in the kitchen, we are happy to say it is here. If you are interested in purchasing a signed copy, please email us at the studio, Luis@mantoani.com or ring 619-543-9959. Price is $28 + shipping.

For more information on booking a stay at the Heceta Head Lighthouse B&B, visit http://hecetalighthouse.com. There are only 6 rooms so book your trip in advance. You will love it!

The white building on the right side of this image is the B&B. Heceta, is one of the most photographed lighthouses in the world due to this amazing vista on highway 101.



Yep, I shoot food too!

Life Rolls On - Jesse Billauer

Every year I shoot images for a few non profits. This week, I was working again with the amazing people at Life Rolls On. Life Rolls On was founded by Jessie Billauer. In 1996, on the verge of becoming a professional surfer, Jesse Billauer suffered a spinal cord injury while surfing. While physically rendered a quadriplegic, Jesse’s spirit was not broken, and the phrase “Life Rolls On” was born. A few years later, the love of the ocean was too much for Jesse to bear. With the help of friends and professional surfer Rob Machado, Jesse found himself back in the ocean, surfing again! Within just a few years these efforts would be showcased in the motion picture, Step Into Liquid (and later Highwater in 2009)

Life Rolls On became the official charity of the US Open of Surfing in 2002, which culminates each year with a disabled surfing exhibition in front of 100,000+ spectators. Since 2002, LRO has delivered a powerful message to over 600,000 people, that life does indeed, Roll On!

Over the years, these efforts have been recognized by Good Morning America, Dateline NBC, TLC’s While You Were Out, Nonprofit Times, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Orange County Register, San Diego Union Tribune, Ability Magazine, Surfer Magazine, Surfing Magazine, Transworld Surf, Riverside Press, E! Entertainment, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, FUEL TV, MTV and dozens more.

Life Rolls On's They Will Surf Again program has made a profound impact on the lives of thousands of people with disabilities, along with the volunteers who help make dreams possible.

EA SPORTS: Madden 10 Cover - Behind The Scenes

It is amazing for people that don't work in this industry to see what it takes to pull off a production like shooting the cover of Madden 10. Someone asked me if I worked with anyone else on this shoot. When I answered, they were shocked to hear that about 30 people contributed to make the photo shoot happen.

We had an amazing crew, Uncle Mark Hofmann, who is literally my uncle. If you are looking for a great producer, look no more http://www.markhofmannproductions.com. In no time flat, he found us a location, had the production team lined up and made everyone feel like, even the forecast for rain, was under control. Alicia Addis, who did the catering and is also part of the Hofmann Production Duo. Bobby Flay watch out, she put a twist on your chicken and it was the bomb! Luis Garcia, Alisal and Jeff Wiant who moved a ton of gear from San Diego to LA on more than one occasion. Your days starts before everyone else and ends long after. Your hard work and dedication has not gone unnoticed. Dominic and the lighting crew from Screaming Broccoli (great grip service) www.screamingbroccoli.net. Susan Seligman, stylist with a smile. Judy our runner who was all over LA picking up FedEx boxes of footballs, uniforms, props and cameras. Two "Stand-Ins" for the talent to help with the lighting set-up and our test images. Sandy who made sure the talent arrived safe and on time. The Limo and motorhome drivers. The helping hands at our location, The Home Depot Center (electricians, grounds crew and facilities). The EA crew, Larry, Larre, Mike, Anthony...thanks for trusting us to do "our thing". The equipment managers of the Cardinals and Steelers, thank you for getting the uniforms to us. The NFL folks who helped us with patches, pylons and official Superbowl balls. Mark K from Popgun Design and his retouching crew. And of course, Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu. I have shot a bunch of athletes over the years and can honestly say they both are class acts and a pleasure to work with. Thanks for running the same plays over and over and over and giving us your time with a smile.

So a huge "THANKS" to everyone involved, it was truly a team effort and I couldn't have done it without you!


Troy and the EA crew look over some of Mike Young's Superbowl images for inspiration.


Troy taking a dive for the cameras.


Larry takes his mark on the set while we dial in the final changes to the lighting and exposure.

Tim test drives the helmet for our Troy "Stand In" while the chin straps are adjusted.


Standing in for one of the photos that will be used as art in the game.


Tim and Larry review a few images.


Larry running a few plays at Larry B from EA. We wanted to simulate the lighting of an NFL game and give the images some "pop". The set was lit with a couple of Xenons for edge lights and a large bounce flat to sneak some light under the helmets.


Troy standing in for some portraits

MOPLA - Behind Photographs Exhibit - Opening Eve


Wow! Thanks to everyone that made it out for the MOPLA show for the opening, what an amazing night. The show will be up all of April and I hope to be doing a lecture at the show on the 21st, so stay tuned for an update. Check the MOPLA website for hours for the Pacific Design Center gallery B210.


Nick Ut at opening night

Douglas Kirland and Tim Mantoani

Tim Mantoani and Gerd Ludwig

MOPLA - Behind Photographs Exhibit


Thanks to the fine folks at MOPLA (Month of Photography LA) and the Lucie Foundation, I will be showing about 30 of my 20x24 Polaroid portraits of photographers at the Pacific Design Center during April. The opening reception is on April 7th from 6-9 and is open to the public. Thanks again to all of the photographers and people to have helped support this project to date. I now have over 100 photographers recorded for this project and hope to have a book out in 2010. Hope to see you in LA.

Scott Kelby Guest Blogger


Tomorrow I will be the guest blogger at www.scottkelby.com. There have been some amazing and inspirational posts here in the past month, so check it out. If you haven't seen the post/film that Zach Arias posted there as the guest blogger, take the time to view it. Thanks Scott and Brad for the invite, I appreciate the opportunity.

3-D Contrast DVD wins HOT ONE Award

I just received news that Professional Photographer Magazine gave a HOT ONE Award to our 3-Dimensional Contrast -Principles of Photographic Lighting DVD for one of the best educational products of the year. This program is based on Dean Collin's theory of 3-D contrast and covers a detailed overview of lighting for both stills and moving pictures. I worked with Dean for many years as both his studio manager and assistant. The information is presented by myself and director/cameraman, Bill Holshevnikoff. If you are looking to learn more about lighting for your photography, I think you will be pleased with this one.

We have a limited number for sale direct from our studio, please email Chris@mantoani.com if interested. Price is $45 plus tax and shipping. Also available at www.software-cinema.com.

You can learn more about Bill Holshevnikoff and his video lighting education at www.poweroflighting.com.

Forward Magazine

While shooting an assignment for Dodge, the art director found out about my 1956 Chrysler, Windsor, Town and Country Wagon and asked if they could feature me in Forward Magazine.

So here is the spread, shot in Ocean Beach. If you are thinking about shooting in San Diego while most of the US is under snow, give me a buzz and I will provide door to door service with a smile!

Linsey Corbin - underwater photography without getting wet!


I had the fortunate opportunity to shoot the latest issue of Triathlete Magazine, featuring Linsey Corbin. Linsey was the top U.S. female finisher in Kona last year and was a pleasure to photograph. The image was to appear on the cover of their wetsuit profile issue, and they requested a shot that involved water. I pitched the idea of an underwater portrait. Unfortunately the heater for the pool went out the day prior to the shoot. Linsey was freezing, but a true champ. I asked her a few times if she needed to take a break, "I'm a f***ing Ironman" she replied with a smile. Perhaps all models should do Kona once for perspective of what discomfort really is! The issue should be hitting news stands any day. To learn more about Linsey check out her website, www.linseycorbin.com.

We did the shoot at a sporting goods store that has a pool with had five large windows. Three of the windows are located in the store where patrons can watch scuba classes in action, the other two windows face the parking lot. To the right of camera, we put two large Chimera softboxes in the parking lot windows so they filled the entire windows. One Profoto Acute head and a 1200 pack powered each light. I was shooting from the windows in the store and blocked out the ambient store lights and reflections by placing a black curtain behind camera and getting the lens as close to the glass a possible. We shot with a 28-70mm zoom lens so I had some flexibility in composition as Linsey moved around. Strobes were triggered with Pocket Wizard radio slaves. The final image required a bit of clean up to retouch out a ladder from the background. No air tanks or camera housing required!